MAZDA FA.5 Xenon Photoflash LampLampe flash au xénonXenon-Blitzlampe

Created in 1951, this lamp was designed to be operated as a powerful electronic flash tube on a 2000V supply, but it could also be used as a continuous burning lamp from the mains with an inductive ballast; in this case, it had to be run vertically with the electrode having the heat shield disc above. A standard hand-held tesla coil was used to ignite the arc which ran in series with five 400W mercury lamp ballasts.

As a flash tube, the small arc and high intensity makes it especially suitable for use with precision optical systems; its excellent performance made this lamp the first light source that enabled retinal photographs to be taken inside the human eye, and it made a huge contribution to medical knowledge in this area.